Tomb of Dracula
Here's a coincidence. There I was reading the latest SFX and noticed that my good friend Nick Setchfield is reading his way throught the Essential Tomb of Dracula at exactly the same time as I am. We're both currently working our respective ways through the second volume of this classic Marvel collection.
It really is a remarkable series that any Dracula fan shouldn't miss. First up, the groovy seventies vibe screams Hammer and in some ways I wish that Christopher Lee had been given the scripts afforded to Marvel's Lord of the Damned.
Stand out for me is the facts that;
a) This is a series where the main character is a blood-thirsty murdering son-of-a-doo-dah who is happiest when he's slaughtering. There are a group of heroes out to stop his evil ways but most of the time you find yourself on Drac's side, willing him to win out in the end. This isn't because the good guys are bland and boring - anything but - but because the dark lord is so well written. Yes, he's melodramatic and obviously self-absorbed but has a real sense of class. Could Marvel have pulled off a 70 issue Doctor Doom series. Nah, not like this. (NB. Prepare yourself for some clever dick to point out that they did in the early eighties and you've not heard about it Cav.)
Granted there are moments when we see that there is a smidgen of humanity beneath that vampiric veneer but thankfully Drac remains evil to the core - noble and intelligent yes, but still as deadly as old fang-features should be.
b) It's not afraid to take risks. Characters are set up, well-rounded only to be killed off suddenly and surprisingly. Even the lead character for that matter. OK, you do have a sneaking suspicion that Drac might be resurrected the next issue but the unpredictable nature of the main cast keeps the interest. When a goodie turns bad in say Spider-Man you expect it to be a stunt and they'll be back on the side of right when the hypes over. Not so in Tomb.
c) It's just plain fun. There's no angst or attempts to be clever. Tomb of Dracula is just good escapist fun, undemanding armchair horror from a time before chills just equalled buckets of gore.
It really is a remarkable series that any Dracula fan shouldn't miss. First up, the groovy seventies vibe screams Hammer and in some ways I wish that Christopher Lee had been given the scripts afforded to Marvel's Lord of the Damned.
Stand out for me is the facts that;
a) This is a series where the main character is a blood-thirsty murdering son-of-a-doo-dah who is happiest when he's slaughtering. There are a group of heroes out to stop his evil ways but most of the time you find yourself on Drac's side, willing him to win out in the end. This isn't because the good guys are bland and boring - anything but - but because the dark lord is so well written. Yes, he's melodramatic and obviously self-absorbed but has a real sense of class. Could Marvel have pulled off a 70 issue Doctor Doom series. Nah, not like this. (NB. Prepare yourself for some clever dick to point out that they did in the early eighties and you've not heard about it Cav.)
Granted there are moments when we see that there is a smidgen of humanity beneath that vampiric veneer but thankfully Drac remains evil to the core - noble and intelligent yes, but still as deadly as old fang-features should be.
b) It's not afraid to take risks. Characters are set up, well-rounded only to be killed off suddenly and surprisingly. Even the lead character for that matter. OK, you do have a sneaking suspicion that Drac might be resurrected the next issue but the unpredictable nature of the main cast keeps the interest. When a goodie turns bad in say Spider-Man you expect it to be a stunt and they'll be back on the side of right when the hypes over. Not so in Tomb.
c) It's just plain fun. There's no angst or attempts to be clever. Tomb of Dracula is just good escapist fun, undemanding armchair horror from a time before chills just equalled buckets of gore.
posted by Cavan Scott at
8:32 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home